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Hate-motivated assault 'asinine' says official

A city immigration official says he was “sickened” after someone in a car doused a university student with water while she was walking downtown Sunday night in what police are calling a possible hate-motivated assault.

City police say the assailant, a passenger in the vehicle, rolled a window down and dumped a bucket of water on the victim, and said “Go back to your own country.”

Danny Krmpotich, head of a city-led group that has been working for the last three years to make Sault Ste. Marie more welcoming to immigrants, called the act “asinine” and not representative of the city's general population.

“It hurts everyone when something like this happens,” said Krmpotich, coordinator of the city's Local Immigration Partnership.

Const. Sonny Spina said the victim, an Algoma University student in her 20s, reported the incident to patrol services and the matter has now been forwarded to the criminal investigation division which is looking into it as a hate-motivated assault. He said detectives didn't know much more about the assault on Wednesday as they were still waiting to interview the victim.

The incident occurred Sunday evening while the victim was walking along Russ Ramsay Way close to the Rotary welcome arch, which declares the city 'Algoma's friendliest.'

Spina said the victim was “soaked,” with water when she made the report.

He said police cannot confirm at this point whether the victim is a member of a visible minority. He said that will make no difference to the investigation.

The Algoma University Students Union declined to comment on the incident until its executives can speak with the victim.

Paolo DeMarco, vice-president of the Algoma Multicultural Centre, said the group is holding off on commenting on Sunday's attack at this point. He said he wants to let the police do their jobs and investigate.

“Our group is based on educating, creating a good environment for any newcomers or different multicultural groups in the community,” said DeMarco.

Lance Thunder, a web developer and Algoma U. graduate, issued a public call on social media Wednesday asking the community to come together and reach out to the victim.

As of late Wednesday, Thunder's Facebook event had close to 70 attendees confirmed, though he said he created it with the intention of encouraging discussion, rather than holding an actual gathering.

Thunder said he believes similar attacks, while not necessarily motivated by bigotry, are common in the downtown core. Thunder, a white male, said he has had teenagers throw items at him from cars in the past. Most recently, someone threw a drink at him while he was walking near Pim and Wellington about a month ago, he said.

He said that makes him suspect the culprits weren't bigots, but perhaps misguided teens.

“I think they were just sort of driving around looking for excitement and they thought they could say something funny and stupid so they could impress their friends,” he said.

Whatever the motivation, from the victim's perspective, the incident was no doubt hurtful, he said.

“She probably feels very unwelcome in Sault Ste. Marie and maybe she doesn't even feel safe, and I think that's terrible,” said Thunder.

Krmpotich, whose department has been working to make it easier for immigrants to make the Sault their home, said the city hosts an increasing number of newcomers, among them many of the community's medical doctors.

“It takes a lot to get these people here in the first place and then for something like this to happen isn't good at all,” said Krmpotich.

However, he said he too believes Sunday's attack to be the work of “one or two idiots” rather than a sign of widespread resentment toward immigrants to the city. He said the response to news of the assault speaks to the character of the community.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook at city hall (with callers saying) 'What can we do? How can we help? How can we change things?'” said Krmpotich.

Reports of racism in the Sault are not new. A federally-funded study conducted in 2004 found that visible minorities in the Sault often face subtle racism. First Nations and other aboriginal members of the community reported being discriminated against while shopping at retail outlets, eating at restaurants and staying in Sault hotels.